We’ll skip the power ratings this week, and each week hereafter, and instead focus on the postseason: Pac-12 bowl projections.

The league caught two breaks: Four undefeated teams lost, and three of them were above Stanford in the selection committee rankings. That helped push the Cardinal to 7th, a perch from which it stands a reasonable chance to make the semifinals if it runs the table.

(Revelation this week: The committee is apparently giving Stanford a break for playing at 9 a.m. Pacific in the Week 1 loss at Northwestern. Ah, the old Body Clock excuse, used not by the team, it’s worth noting, but the committee.

(Don’t ever, ever forget: The committee makes this stuff up as its goes along. It ranks the teams, then finds a means to justify the rankings. And because of the immense flexibility built into the selection process, it can justify just about anything.

(Chair Jeff Long on Dec. 6: “Yes, Ohio State lost the Big Ten title game, but the committee felt the Buckeyes played so well when kickoff temperatures were between 45 and 62 degrees that they deserved a chance to defend their title.”

(Also don’t forget: The most authoritative voices in the room are from Big Ten schools.

(Where was I? Oh, yes …)

The Pac-12 has six teams currently eligible, with a seventh to qualify this weekend when Cal thumps Oregon State. I project two more will join the bowl lineup over the final weeks.

Last year, the conference placed one team in the playoff (Oregon), a second in the New Year’s Six (Arizona in the Fiesta) and had a total of eight eligible teams — the third year in a row it had sent at least eight to the postseason.

Utah
Record: 8-1/5-1
Wins needed: Eligible
Remaining schedule: at Arizona, vs. UCLA, vs. Colorado
Outlook: Also in the playoff hunt but division lead tenuous because of head-to-head loss to USC. Could use a Michigan victory over Ohio State.

UCLA
Record: 7-2/4-2
Wins needed: Eligible
Remaining schedule: vs. Washington State, at Utah, at USC
Outlook: Good thing the Bruins are sitting on seven, because they might not win again. Even if they run the table, semifinals are out of reach. (And since they can’t beat Stanford, they can’t run the table.)

Oregon
Record: 6-3/4-2
Wins needed: Eligible
Remaining schedule: at Stanford, vs. USC, vs. Oregon State
Outlook: Division hopes hinge on winning out and Stanford losing to Cal. Would be hot commodity for second-tier bowl that never dreamed of having the Ducks.

USC
Record: 6-3/4-2
Wins needed: Eligible
Remaining schedule: at Colorado, at Oregon, vs. UCLA
Outlook: Must win out and hope Utah loses in order to get a rematch with Stanford and make the USC administration take Clay Helton seriously as a candidate for the permanent job. Not as unlikely as it seemed a few weeks ago.

Washington State
Record: 6-3/4-2
Wins needed: Eligible
Remaining schedule: at UCLA, vs. Colorado, at Washington
Outlook: Needed some help from the refs to get past Arizona State for that all-important sixth win. But the means matter little in Pullman. It’s (understandably) all about the ends.

Cal
Record: 5-4/2-4
Wins needed: One
Remaining schedule: vs. Oregon State, at Stanford, vs. Arizona State
Outlook: Had Texas made the extra point to force OT, the Bears might be in need of two wins for a bid to the postseason.

Arizona
Record: 5-5/2-5
Wins needed: One
Remaining schedule: vs. Utah, at Arizona State
Outlook: Wildcat administration must have sensed injuries were coming when it lined up the soft non-conference schedule.

Washington
Record: 4-5/2-4
Wins needed: Two
Remaining schedule: at Arizona State, at Oregon State, vs. Washington State
Outlook: Two wins, and Chris Petersen becomes a candidate for coach of the year — a candidate, but not the frontrunner.